A portion of the disclosure of the patent document contains material which is subject to copyright protection. The owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by any one of the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent files of records of any country, but otherwise reserves all rights whatsoever.
The present invention relates to the field of mechanical construction, and more particularly to an improved attachment apparatus and method for affixing a portion of a housing shell to the remainder thereof. The predominant current usage of the present inventive bezel mount apparatus and method is in the attachment of a front bezel to a computer monitor housing, wherein it is desirable to have an attractive connection without sacrificing mechanical integrity and strength.
A monitor bezel is generally the portion of the monitor housing which surrounds the viewing screen and is visible from the front of the monitor as the user observes the screen. The bezel is usually attached to the rest of the housing such that the cathode ray tube (xe2x80x9cCRTxe2x80x9d) can be inserted into and affixed within the housing before the bezel is attached to conceal the unsightly edges of the front of the CRT. It is known in the art to construct both bezels which are attached to the housing before the CRT is inserted therein, and also bezels which are attached to the housing after the CRT is inserted therein. In the latter instance, frequently the front of the housing is the only opening big enough to insert the CRT through.
In the past, it has been the conventional practice to construct monitor housings from opaque materials such that it has been easy to conceal whatever attachment means is employed to attach the bezel to the housing. However, it has recently become popular to construct the housings of electronic devices, such as monitors, from colored transparent materials so that the working components of the devices are visible through the housing. While this is primarily an aesthetic improvement, it has a distinctly functional aspect. That is, in the effort to make monitors and the like, more aesthetically pleasing (and thus more marketable) it is important to retain mechanical integrity and strength in the product. Therefore, an improved method and apparatus for mounting a bezel which combines both aesthetic and functional aspects would be desirable.
To the inventor""s knowledge, no method has existed in the prior art which effectively retains the aesthetic aspects of a clear monitor housing, while remaining mechanical strength sufficient to produce a reliable product. All methods which might have previously been used have either present an unsightly blemish visible through the front of the bezel, or else have been insufficiently strong, or else have been too expensive to employ, or some combination of these problems.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a bezel mounting apparatus which does not require a molded portion that can be seen through the face of a transparent bezel.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a bezel-mounting apparatus which securely mounts a bezel to the shell of a computer monitor housing.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a bezel mounting apparatus which is inexpensive produce.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a bezel mounting apparatus which will effectively combine aesthetic and functional aspects.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a method for mounting a bezel to computer monitor housing which will securely mount the bezel without interfering with the aesthetics of the clear bezel front.
Briefly, an embodiment of the present invention is a computer monitor housing having a bezel with a plurality of attachment tabs located on the perimeter thereof, such that the edge of the attachment tabs are aligned with the a rim of the bezel, and therefore cannot be readily seen through the front of the bezel. A like plurality of intermediate attachment devices attach to the attachment tabs using post projections on the attachment devices which fit into and lock within receptor apertures in the attachment tabs. The attachment devices each have a screw receptor hole for receiving a screw which affixes the attachment device (with the bezel already affixed thereto) to the housing. The housing has a plurality of screw pass through apertures through, each of which will have one of the screws passed therethrough such that the attachment device will be affixed to the housing thereby when one of the screws is passed through this aperture and into the receptor hole of a corresponding attachment device.
An advantage of the present invention is that there is no molding on the back face of the bezel which can be readily seen through the bezel.
Another advantage of the present invention is that there is nothing in the way of a cosmetic interior covering in a bezel.
A further advantage of the present invention is that it is easy and inexpensive to implement.
Still another advantage of the present invention is that it securely attaches a bezel to a housing.
These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become clear to those skilled in the art in view of the description of modes of carrying out the invention, and the industrial applicability thereof, as described herein and as illustrated in the several figures of the drawing. The objects and advantages listed are not an exhaustive list of all possible advantages of the invention. Moreover, it will be possible to practice the invention even where one or more of the intended objects and/or advantages might be absent or not required in the application.
Further, those skilled in the art will recognize that various embodiments of the present invention may achieve one or more, but not necessarily all, of the above described objects and advantages. Accordingly, the listed advantages are not essential elements of the present invention, and should not be construed as limitations.